Islamic conquest of Egypt

During the Roman rule, Egypt was directly subordinate to the Byzantine emperor in Constantinople, unlike the other provinces of the Roman state that were subject to the rule of the Senate. This was because Egypt had a special economic importance to the Roman state in the East and West, where it was considered the storehouse of the Empire. But the difference of the Egyptians’ faith in their rulers was the cause of persecution by the Romans at that time.

The Islamic conquest of Egypt

• began in 640 AD after the approval of the Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab and the military council on the conquest of Egypt and the conquest plan as well. The movement of the Islamic Army led by Amr ibn al-Aas where he decided that his first goal was the fortress of Babylon, where its position on the east coast of the Nile, and its current location in the old district of Cairo between the city of Memphis and Heliopolis. After the siege for 6 months the Islamic army managed to overcome the Romans. Then he headed for Alexandria, which was the capital of the country, forcing it to succumb after a 14-month siege. Amr ibn al-Aas issued a decision to prevent looting and taking the money of others which sided with the Egyptians to this decision. The Christians, who wanted to remain in their religion, were left with this option on condition that they pay the annual tribute in order to retain the right to practice their religion.

 

• The situation changed in the Islamic state after that, where Muawiya bin Abi Sufyan could establish the Umayyad state, which extended from (662 – 750 AD). During the rule of this state, the empire expanded greatly to reach Asia, Africa and Europe and extended from India to the middle of France, but King Charles Martin pushed the Muslims to the outskirts of the Pyrenees Mountains.

 

• Egypt continued under Arab leadership after the establishment of the Abbasid state in 750 AD to the era of Mu’tasim, the third son of Harun al-Rashid. But after the weakness grip of the caliphate and the matter of the state has been taken over by who are not in the same ability as the first Abbasid caliphs in efficiency and firmness. The power was transferred from their hands to their Turkish commanders, who were used by the state in running its affairs and leading their armies. Many of them emerged as prominent figures who made the decision without the legitimate caliphate and intervened in appointing and isolating the caliphs. What was one of these Turkish soldiers to take power and announced the independence of Egypt from the Abbasid Caliphate, Ahmed bin Tulun. He came to Egypt as deputy governor of the Abbasid, but later he took power, and then extended his authority over the Levant where the Abbasids were busy resisting the revolution Negroes.

The Tulunid state

was established and extended its reign from (868-905 AD), one of the independent states of the Abbasid state. The Tulunian state represents the first experience of a local government in which a state is governed by a family and becomes independent of the central caliphate government. Egypt was ruled after Ahmad ibn Tulun by his son Khmarawiya. The Tulunid state began to disappear after the reign of Khamarweh; then the Abbasids restored the influence of the central state to Egypt.

The Ekhchidian State

• (934-969 AD). Muhammad ibn Taghj was the ruler of Egypt during the reign of Caliph al-Abbasi al-Radi -Bellah, a loyalist of the Tulun family and a descendant of a Turkish military family that served the Abbasids. He was also called “Al ikhchid” meaning the ruler or the prince. When he repelled the Fatimid attack on Egypt, he succeeded in establishing the state of al-Ikhshidiyya (934-969 AD). He was able to control large parts of the Levant as well. This state ended with the Fatimids who succeeded in the occupation of Egypt and the establishment of a state.

The Fatimid state

• (969 -1171 AD) is one of the states of the Islamic Caliphate, but it is the only one among the Caliphate countries that adopted the Shi’a doctrine as its official religion. After the Fatimids established a state in the Maghreb including Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria and its capital Kairouan. The Caliph al-Mu’izz decided in 971 AD to enter Egypt, where the commander of his armies, Jawhar al-Saqli, succeeded in eradicating the Ekhchidian state. The Fatimid state lasted nearly 270 years and ruled by a number of caliphs who were young, this why the ministers controlled the power and the state witnessed a lot of conspiracies and sedition and internal revolutions.  Thus, the state was weakened and ended in 1171 by Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi when he went to Egypt by order of Nur al-Din Zanki and ruled the Fatimid caliphate and returned Egypt to the Sunni Islamic state.

The Ayyubid state

• (1171-1250 AD) Nur al – Din Zanki was able to seize Egypt from the Fatimids. However, the actual establishment of the Ayyubid state in Egypt was carried out by Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi, who was one of the heroes against the Crusades – in 1169, when he was minister to the other Fatimid Caliphs, and then defeated them in 1171 and completed the unification of Egypt and Syria under his flag Made himself under the authority of the Abbasid Caliph, then led the jihad against the Crusaders and was able to recover Jerusalem in 1187 – after his victory in Hittin.

 

• The crusades continued after the death of Salah al-Din Ayubi and in 1249 and the most famous of these campaigns is the seventh campaign led by Louis IX of France. Where the Crusaders invaded Damietta and were intending to attack Cairo. During the war, Sultan Assleh Ayyub died in Mansoura because of tuberculosis. But Shagarat E durr was able to hide the news of the death of Sultan Ayyub and then sent to his son Turan Shah from the fortress of Kiva in Turkey to take over the throne and lead the army. After the war and the capture of Louis IX, Turan-Shah was proud on his Mamluks and the wife of his father Shagarat Edurr. The Mamluks agreed to hand over the ruling to Shagarat Edurr, the widow of the Sultan and the mother of his son. The Ayyubid state of Levant did not like what happened in Egypt, where they were looking forward to the throne of Egypt, they contacted the Abbasid caliphate Almtasim Bellah in Baghdad and he sent a letter to Egypt, asking its people how to install a woman as Sultana?” If you need men we send you from us”. Mu’tasim could not protect Baghdad from the Mongols until they entered Baghdad and arrested him and executed him and his men. But the main branch of the Ayyubin continued in Egypt until the death of the king Almzaffar by the Mamluks in 1250.
• Mamluk State (1250-1517 AD) .These Mamluk slaves were brought by the Ayyubids. The plan of these Ayyubid leaders was to bring the Mamluks from non-Islamic countries, mostly children who were raised in strict military bases in isolated military barracks from the outside world. Their influence increased since they seized power in 1250. The Mamluks in the first era of their state defeated the Mongol invasion of the Levant and Egypt and was the summit of the confrontation in the eye of Goliath. Then, during the reign of Sultan Pibers (1260-1277 AD) and the Sultans after him, the Mamluks concentrated their efforts on the Crusader emirates in Syria. In 1290 they ruled the last strongholds of the Crusaders in the Levant (Acre).

The Ottoman Empire

• (1517 – 1867 AD) is an Islamic empire founded by Osman I Ibn Arttagarl. After the relationship between the Ottomans and the Mamluks worsened, al-Ghouri’s attempts to reconcile the peace with the Ottoman Sultan Selim I failed. The Ottomans decided to invade the Mamluks in Syria and Egypt. The two teams met at Marj Dabak near Aleppo on 24 August 1516. The Ottomans achieved a great victory, despite the valiant resistance of Al- Ghouri. Al- Ghouri was killed, then Selim I sent a message to the Mamluk leader in Egypt, Toman Bey, with a message calling for obedience to the Ottoman Empire, but he ridiculed this message. The two armies then met in the area of ​​Raidaniyah (now the Abbasid quarter of Cairo). The Mamluks tried to repel the attack, but the battle was settled for the Ottomans. Egypt ruled as a state of the Ottoman Empire. After the Ottomans took control of Egypt, the Sultan appointed the Pasha, who headed 12 pik, appointed by the Mamluk princes. Over time, the Mamluks became more prominent. They appointed themselves as the Sheikh of the country until 1767, when the Mamluks declared their independence from the Ottoman Empire. And continued looting and looting until the coming of the French occupation from 1798 until 1801. After the expulsion of the French, Mohamed Ali Pasha took power in 1805, an Albanian military commander of the Ottoman army in Egypt. Egypt under Mohammed Ali’s rule remained nominally Ottoman. Egypt was granted as an independent or Khedive state in 1867. Ismail and Tawfiq Pasha ruled Egypt as a semi-independent state under Ottoman rule until the British occupation in 1882. However, the Khedive of Egypt (1867-1914) remained an Ottoman state by law until November 5, 1914, As a British reserve in response to Turkey’s decision to participate in World War I alongside the central powers.

Egypt and the Nile 

• Location: Egypt is located in the northeastern part of the African continent extends to 1.002.000 km 2, and is considered an intercontinental country because of the presence of an African-Asian extension through the Sinai Peninsula. Egypt shares coastal borders with the Mediterranean Sea on the north and the eastern side with the Red Sea. Its north-eastern border comes with Palestine and the Gaza Strip, bordered by Libya from the west and from the south by Sudan.

 

• Nile: It is the only river that runs in Egypt as it emerges from Lake Victoria in Ethiopia and tends to a large slope to Egypt, marching in the forests of savannah, sycamore and others, and then arrive in Khartoum in the name of the White where it meets the Blue Nile and Egypt enters Aswan two mountains of basalt separated by water and the valley expands in this place Up to 120 m and then in Egypt and the various frequencies are carried out until Cairo reaches 60 meters width and then divided into the Mediterranean Sea in the cities of Damietta and Rashid.

 

• – Rain falls from October to April in Abyssinia. It passes through all these forests and absorbs green and other leaves. This leads to Egypt, the pure and red silt or deposits, and fertilizes the land of Egypt. In fact, this silt is the one that formed the agricultural soil in Egypt and therefore the places where the water is not reached are barren desert. .

 

• Maseru says that in times of abyss the Delta did not exist, but was part of the Mediterranean Sea, but formed by the deposits of the Nile. The Nile has not only created the soil of Egypt, but also the general appearance of the country and the type of its products, as it has become the standard of luxury and source of life in Egypt. If the flood that comes every year high and strong will lead to the destruction of the earth and vice versa leads to destruction and non-fertilization of the land too. The flood occurs in June and continues for 4 months and at this time the rulers measure the Nile in order to predict the quantity of the crop and so they impose taxes.

 

Climate in Egypt

• Egypt is located in the dry tropical region, except the northern parts, which enter the temperate zone, which enjoys a climate similar to the Mediterranean region, which is characterized by heat and drought in the summer months and moderates in winter with a few rains rising on the coast. Egypt’s climate can be distinguished in two climatic seasons: the hot dry summers which extends between May and October and a mild winter with little rain and runs between November and April. Temperatures in January are from 9 to 24. The months of July and August are less than 21 degrees to 42 degrees Celsius.
• From June to April, the north winds are rising and going in the east or west. Every year between March and May, very hot, dry and dusty winds blow from the south or southwest. These winds are called the “pentagons” because it lasts for 50 days. When these dry winds blow, they blow continuously across the vast desert in the regions, picking up soft sand and dust particles and ultimately leading to the dusty winds that generally appear in the desert suburbs. Temperatures are caused temporarily at generally dangerous levels of more than 45 degrees and relative humidity levels fall below
• The dew drops are reduced or increased according to the proximity to the sea and the direction of the wind and a little dew occurs in Upper Egypt, but it occurs a lot in areas near the sea, such as Alexandria and the Delta, but for a short period and starts from December to February.

Population

Egypt is the most populous country in the Middle East, Egypt’s population increases to nearly half a million every six months. On June 5, 2018, the population clock recorded 97 million inhabitants of Egypt’s population inside. The population distribution in the Egyptian republic varies among the deserts, the Delta and the valley. Egypt is a desert country, which is divided by the Nile River, which led to the formation of the delta and the valley, where people live near fresh water. We can assure that about 99.3% of the population lives in Delta and the Nile Valley. Despite that these areas do not exceed 5% of the total area of ​​Egypt, and can be divided as follows: Valley: It is inhabited by about (34.6%) of the population of Egypt. Delta: Approximately 42.4% of the population lives in this area. Alexandria and Cairo: about 22.3% of the population.

Muslims

Egypt takes the Islamic religion as an official religion of the country, along with the official recognition of other religions, Judaism and Christianity. The overwhelming majority of the country’s population embraces the Islamic religion and are considered Sunni and Jemaah with an estimated 80% of the total population, ie 77,600,000 Egyptian Muslims. Egypt has a pillar of the Sunni Islamic sect in the world, Al-Azhar Mosque, which dates back to more than 1044 years. It was established in 972 and is considered a reliable religious reference, the favor of establishing it goes Gawher Esquily when Cairo was opened. This is considered the first mosque in terms of construction in Cairo.

Copts

The Copts represent the ideal model for the ancient inhabitants of Egypt. No people in the East accepted the Christian doctrine and kept it as the people of Egypt. These individuals were accustomed to viewing life as a short journey and then death; and this people found in Christianity a doctrine associated with ideas. The Christian reform has taken great strides against atheism. There has been a war between atheism and messengers of Christianity; the martyrs of Christianity, the school of Alexandria and the war between Christianity and the Roman emperors.

Today, the number of Copts is 20%, or 19,400,000 Christians, the majority of whom are in Upper Egypt. In fact, they have a specific shape on the front, with curly hair; large black eyes and a rather large nose; the mouth is large and the lips are large and the chin has a few hairs.

Peasants

In fact, the Arabs did not leave the banks of the Nile after their opening to Egypt. A large number of Islamic families came to find the unique landscapes they could hardly find in their country. Two or three generations later, the number of Egyptians and Arabs became equal. As a result of the mixing of races, there has been a change in races with the Egyptian race over the Arab.

The farmer in general has a distinctive texture which can not be confined to the robes only, but appears in the shirt and trousers, where the length of the height and breadth of the chest and the strength of harmonious muscles and the broad front with black eyes and white teeth white, but women farmers have a firm texture and features of the face medium Beauty.

Urban dwellers 

Urban residents in Egypt are less conservative in birth control; this is because of the mixed races due to the absence of customs that prevent mating between different families, as in some villages and rural areas, especially in Upper Egypt. So you find black and white. Bodies are also varied in size from slim to fat.

The Egyptian man in general is good and kind and loves coexistence and communication with all people around him. He also has the intelligence and memory power and learns very easily. He loves friendships and does not like isolation.

Customs and Traditions

Egyptian public culture and customs are characterized by diversity and complete fusion with many other cultures and traditions. The Egyptians still have some of the traditions that were given to them by their Pharaohs, as well as the tribal customs and traditions that spread among the desert Bedouins. There are also traditions and rural customs in the Upper Egypt that differ somewhat from the rural traditions of the north side and even the habits of the invaders appear somehow in modern Egypt. But what distinguishes that Egyptian culture is that it is like melting pot melting in all these customs and traditions. Talking about all these customs and traditions needs a widen area so we will try in these a few lines focus on some specific traditions.

 

In general, Egyptians are fully adaptable in nature and love to help people. If you ask the Egyptians any question, they will answer it happily. One interesting behavior is that when you ask for something Egyptian, they will contact some other people to discuss the matter and will do their best to give you the right answer to the question.

Although most of the residents in Egypt are Muslim, they are not accustomed to drinking alcohol, but they have no objection to others drinking. But it is important if you drink alcohol while you are in Egypt. You should be familiar. Moreover, pork consumption is not common, but places where pork is not available will still have plenty of other options.

Marriage

Marriage habits have not changed since the era of the Pharaohs. Egyptians are the first people in the world to know about marriage, and they have set conditions for it. Marriage starts with the debauchery, and it is found in the legislation of the ancient Egyptians and they call it the “Baath ring” because it has neither a start nor an end. This means the infinity and sincerity. This ring was made of gold, and the bear was placed in the right hand – just as it is happening now – and after the marriage it is transferred to the left hand, and this means the pursuit of the teachings of God, as the ruler of the judiciary – on the basis of the beliefs of the ancient Egyptians.

The marriage rituals the Egyptians practice today are totally pharaonic in the first degree. The authorized cleric of marriage with religious uniform or even the authorized “modern” cleric in the suit and the tie is the same authorized pharaonic cleric of the temple to hold the bond of sacred marriage between the bridegrooms. Nowadays, he then writes the marriage contract from 3 copies – as is now the case completely – one for the bride and another for the authorized cleric and a third for the archives so as not to lose anyone’s right..

As for the wedding ceremony, the Egyptians used to have the wedding ceremony at the groom’s or bride’s house as agreed, or as is happening now in a big hotel if the groom is a bit rich, or in the clubs of the second degree, or often on the roof of their house!! !

The bride and groom in the ancient used to decorate the wedding hall, and the most important thing used to decorate the hall is the jasmine blossom, which is a branch of the Yasmon, because they believe in the blossom of paradise and its smell is the smell of paradise. The name of the grooms sitting place now became “kushah”

The Egyptian wedding tradition is now called “the bride’s gateau tart “, in which the bride and groom are keen to cut it together, and each of them takes a small part on the tip of the knife from the chef to cut the tart. The women who attend the wedding are also eager to celebrate the wedding.

Funeral Ceremonies

The customs of the Egyptians in the funerals are truly considered to be a heritage that should always be praised. The Egyptians in the funerals are divided into strata according to the level of living or according to their cultural orientation. The deceased’s family must appear in the best appearance even in sorrows. Death is the day of farewell for the deceased, and every man has his appreciation. Now the deceased’s family is only renting the funeral parlor for only three hours, although the funeral parlor lasted three days in the past

It is interesting to consider the issue of the Egyptians’ funerals, in which some of them have invented to hire one of the famous reciter to recite the Quran in the funeral, which may sometimes amount to 20,000 pounds in just two hours of time, although some have begun replacing this with the cassette player with the voice of the most famous reciter of the Quran in Egypt, without the need to pay this exaggerated amount. In the different areas of our beloved Egypt funerals necessarily vary from one province to another, and from village to village in the same province, although they finally meet on one bond of respect for the sanctity of the dead ..

Circumcision

The male or female circumcision, known as the “dowry,” was performed in the last period by a hospital doctor, but the phenomenon of the ceremony of circumcision party returned to the surface in the Egyptian districts and villages.

This issue is not different from one village to another or even from one province to another, because the result in the end is the same, which is the process of circumcision of the child or even the girl, the families boast of such concerts for their children, especially that they believe that the child, even if he was one year old is on the outskirts of masculinity, and the girl has reached the stage of femininity, which must disappear from sight waiting for the bridegroom to kidnap her on his white horse !!

RAMADAN month

Ramadan is a Holly month for Egyptians, where people celebrate this month with friends and relatives. Throughout this month, fasting people abstain from eating, drinking and smoking from dawn until sunset.  They devote much time to pray and read Quran and frequent donations and charity for the poor and charity associations. The month of Ramadan is the ninth month of the Hijri year, which consists of 12 lunar months. The Hijri year is 11.3 days shorter than the AD calendar. As a result of this shortage, the month of Ramadan is changing its time between the summer and winter. As in summer the day of fasting prolongs, while in winter the opposite occurs. In the big cities, many people remain awake the whole night and then eat the suhoor meal in the restaurants and the Ramadan tents and then go to their homes or mosques to perform Fajr prayer. There is a remarkable characteristic of the Egyptians during this month too, “the table of the Ramadan” is that some of the rich prepare equipped table full of food and drinks for the poor or travelers. It is interesting to note the participation of some Christians in the establishment of such tables reflects the peaceful co-existence between Muslims and Christians. Some people also pledge to find ways to provide some food and drink to travelers on the roads